1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to technology for encouraging conversation among users in a system wherein a plurality of users sharing the same network are able to conduct conversation simultaneously among themselves.
In the present invention, a chat system shall refer to a system comprising a chat server and a plurality of chat clients, such that a plurality of chat clients sharing the same space are able to conduct conversations simultaneously among themselves.
A channel shall refer to a virtual space shared by chat clients in the above chat system.
A channel mode shall refer to an attribute characterizing a channel used in Internet Relay Chat (IRC).
2. Description of Related Art
With the rapid growth of the Internet in recent years, it has become common for users to work together while using separate information terminals. For example, a plurality of users can use a chat system to carry out a conversation within a channel, thereby holding a conference in a channel, i.e., an electronic conference room.
In a chat system, just by inputting what he or she wants to state and then pressing the return key, a user can send a message into the channel in which he or she is participating. Because a user can chat with other users just as if they were having an ordinary conversation, he or she can send messages easily. Furthermore, in a chat system, a message sent by a user will be immediately displayed at the information terminals of other users. Therefore, not just one-to-one dialogues, but conversations involving three or more people are possible, as well as situations where one person is addressing a group of questioners and respondents. Because the conversation is carried out using the transmission of text data, the task of recording the conversation, as in minutes of the meeting, becomes simple. In such a chat system, sometimes a user participates simultaneously in a plurality of channels. Usually, when a user is participating in a plurality of channels, he or she focuses on one of them, and is able to send messages into that channel. This channel is called “current channel” and others are called “sub channel”. With regard to sub channels, the messages from other users are displayed on screen, informing the user of what is being chatted on those sub channels. Changing current channels into which the user can send messages is easy. If a user wants to send a message into a different channel, he or she can switch to current channel at any time.
In the above situation, a user who is looking at a conversation in the other sub channel may forget to change the current channel, and end up sending a message intended for one of sub channels into the current channel. As was mentioned above, message inputted by the user will be sent to all users in the channel, in just the manner inputted, when the user presses the return key. This can result in the user sending message that does not match the conversation in the channel. Even if it happens that the content of the message wasn't inappropriate, there's the possibility that the manner of expression was inappropriate, as would be the case when one's superiors or people one doesn't know are participating in the channel, and one sends a message written in a manner of expression used among close friends.
Current chat systems have several other problems in addition to the above, examples of which are given below.
When conversations regarding different topics are taking place within one channel, it is difficult to tell to which message among messages previously sent a message is in response.
When a message is sent after a long interval since the previous one, and the message is sent in the same manner as if it were an immediate reply, this can be confusing to other users.
In a conversation between users who use different languages, a burden is placed on one of the users who has to switch to the language used by the other party, and this is an obstacle to lively conversation.
Certain chat clients can accept the registration of keywords specified by the user. When another user has sent a message that includes a registered keyword, the chat client in some way notifies the user that the keyword has been included in a message. Examples of notification include a chat window that had been closed opening and outputting a message. However, it is often the case that the user sending the message has no desire to provide a stimulus to other users.